As the Trump administration denies Oregon federal funds for fighting wildfires, state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are fuming.
Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved emergency funding for three of the state’s five major wildfires but denied funds for the Rowe Creek Complex and East Evans Creek fires.
“I’ve lived in rural Oregon my whole life, and sadly this is exactly what we’ve come to expect from government — same disaster, same need, but not the same help,” said State Rep. Vicki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, in a press release.
“Our communities did everything right, and FEMA still shut the door,” she said. “I’m calling on the federal government to quit treating rural Oregon as an afterthought and get these families the assistance they’re owed.”
Some suspect Donald Trump is being stingy because Oregon is a blue state that voted for Kamala Harris by 55% of the popular vote in 2024.
However, FEMA funds were denied to the Rowe Creek Complex Fire predominantly in Wheeler County and the East Evans Creek Fire predominantly in Jackson County. Trump won 51% of the vote in Jackson County and 71% in Wheeler County.
Oregon lawmakers are less concerned with the administration’s motives than the region’s needs.
More than 2 million acres have burned across the state, making this the worst Oregon wildfire season on record. And the season still has two months to go.
Benton County has been spared the ravages of the wildfires so far, but the air quality index in the area has gone from good to moderate, and at times, downright unhealthy.
“Wildfire is merciless, regardless of where it takes hold,” state Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, told The Advocate.
“Oregon residences are under evacuation notice and over 40 homes and 126 outbuildings have been destroyed across 13 rural communities by wildfire this year,” Gelser Blouin said. “Thanks to the generosity of other states, 66% of all U.S. fire assets are currently deployed in Oregon and Washington. They are joined by helpers from as far away as Australia.”
Despite the help, she said, Oregonians still need support from the federal government to finance efforts to save lives, homes and habitat.
“The intensity of the fire season already exceeds anticipated fire costs by more than $20 million, and we still have many weeks to go,” Gelser Blouin said.
State Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, said in a press release that both the fires denied FEMA funds affect more than 200 homes, meeting the threshold for federal assistance.
“While I’m glad to see the Akawa Butte Fire getting the funding it needs, the relief can’t stop there,” Levy said. “The Rowe Creek Complex and East Evans Creek fires met the standard threshold of impacted households, but they were turned away. That’s not right.”
Breese-Iverson said Oregon may often be separated by political parties, but not by its needs in moments of crisis.
“When disaster hits one part of Oregon, it hits all of us,” she said. “Central Oregon and every community battling these fires deserve the same support, the same urgency and the same respect from the federal government. We stand together as a state, and we’re not going to stop pushing until every community gets the funding it needs.”
Gelser Blouin said her colleagues can count on her support.
“I join my colleagues in asking FEMA to immediately approve emergency funds for the Rowe Creek Complex and East Evans Creek fires,” she said. “Not a single Oregonian should be left behind.”
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